Memories
by tenniStar514
Summary: JL AU: When James becomes injured in an accident and loses his memory, Lily feels like she's to blame. Can James win her back a second time, after he's forgotten her? Can true love overcome the obstacles? Chapters 1 to 7 revised! 8 in progress. Review!
1. Chapter 1: Midnight Rendezvous

Memories

Chapter 1: Midnight Rendezvous

DISCLAIMER: I do not own J.K. Rowling's work.

A/N: I am revising this story. Please review! Thank you!

** start chapter **

Inside Hogwarts Castle, most occupants were sleeping soundly in their comfortable beds. However, on the fifth floor, four sixth-year boys were still awake in the warm Gryffindor Common Room.

"What can be taking such a bloody long time?" Sirius Black asked exasperatedly, running his hair through his dark hair in impatience.

"You know girls, they always need to look perfect before they put one foot anywhere outside of their dormitory," responded Remus Lupin, rolling his eyes. He flipped a page in his book and continued reading.

"Yes, but _twenty minutes _to go to the _kitchens _at a time when no one will even see them?" cried James Potter. He flopped down into a chair, apparently tired of pacing near the staircase.

"Yeah, that is pretty unreasonable," piped up Peter Pettigrew from the giant armchair that absolutely dwarfed the small figure.

Finally, a rustling of clothing by the staircase informed the Gryffindor boys that the three Gryffindor girls – Lily Evans, Lyssa Wynfield, and Brooke Wiskero – had _finally _gotten ready.

James shook out the folds in a silvery cloak that all present knew as the Invisibility Cloak. He enlarged it by magic and draped it over all his friends. They walked out of the Gryffindor Tower, leaving the Fat Lady calling after them, apparently indignant at getting her sleep interrupted.

As the group silently trooped towards the hidden kitchens on the first floor, James pulled out a rather ragged piece of parchment and tapped it, while whispering, "_I solemnly swear I am up to no good._" The others, familiar with this little ritual, continued walking as James checked the Marauders' Map for anyone coming. Spidery lines swept to each corner of the parchment and labeled dots showed that Apollyon Pringle was down in the dungeons, Professor Dumbledore was pacing in his study, and that the rest of the professors were asleep.

Sirius reached out with his finger and ticked the little green pear on a large painting of delicious-looking fruit. The pear giggled and Sirius seized the hidden door handle that replaced it.

The seven Gryffindors entered the kitchens, which they were already very familiar with. The kitchens consisted of mainly a high-ceilinged, airy room through which delicious aromas were wafting through. Four long tables were set directly underneath the corresponding tables in the Great Hall above. At least a thousand little house-elves were scurrying around the kitchens, already preparing the next morning's breakfast.

As soon as they entered the kitchens, no less than ten house-elves dashed over, bowing deeply to the friends and asking them what they would desire. Sirius and James spoke for the group, rattling off names of various sweets and foods. The elves bowed deeply once more and ushered them to a table, zooming quickly to the giant refrigerators and cupboards to give the Gryffindors what they had ordered.

As Lily munched on a delicious strawberry scone, she suggested that the seven of them go for a walk by the lakeside. The rest of them agreed. So, they bid farewell to the house-elves, and were bowed out of the warm kitchens.

As they went outside, Remus conjured some hazy, gently bobbing lights that trailed after each person. It was one of his specialties, especially brilliant because it could only be seen by the person it was attached to, although it shed plenty of light. The group split up, wandering off in different directions. Sirius and Lyssa walked along the lakeside, talking quietly about something the rest of them couldn't hear. Remus had conjured a replica of the chess game that he and Peter were in the middle of, and the two of them continued their game, Brooke watching and cheering Remus on (although Remus certainly didn't need the cheering; he was beating Peter very badly).

Meanwhile, Lily and James were sitting under a beech tree that overlooked the lake, conversing pleasantly. A sudden wind blew cold air, whistling through the trees. Lily had forgotten to bring her cloak along, so she shivered in the cold, rubbing her arms in an attempt to get warmer.

"Are you cold, Lily?" James asked in a concerned tone of voice. He took off his warm cloak and draped it over Lily's shoulders. However, his arm never left her shoulder, and Lily found it comforting. She would never have thought before that James could be so considerate and kind. In fact, last year, she and James had been in the middle of an all-out war. However, after a memorable incident in which Lily spat harsh words in his face, James had changed into a more mature person. The change had been subtle, but Lily had grown respect for him. By the second month of the sixth year, they had both apologized to one another and had formed a deep friendship. But, Lily reflected, she never knew why James had acted so spitefully towards Snape at the incident. Even if she had thought he was arrogant, he had never shown such a display of animosity.

"James, do you remember last year when I… said things that I regret now?" Lily asked tentatively. After all, this was a rather bad memory. James nodded, and a sad look entered his warm eyes. "Why did you do it?"

James thought of the incident, and hesitated to tell Lily. But in the end, he spilled all the details to her of the events leading up to the confrontation.

FLASHBACK

Remus had pulled out a worn book and was reading, leaning against their favorite beech tree out on the grounds. He was staring hard at the page in the book, but James could see a frown. He knew Remus disapproved of what they were planning; he also knew that Remus wouldn't stop them because he thought James deserved his chance. Sirius stared around at the students milling over the grass, looking rather haughty and bored, but very handsomely so. James was still absently playing with a Snitch that he had nicked from the broom shed, letting it zoom farther and farther away, but catching it every time. Peter was watching with an avid satisfaction, his mouth hanging open. Any other day James would have been amused, but not today.

Today, a letter had arrived in the mail:

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_ We regret to inform you of your grandfather's death. We have received information that he was murdered by Death Eaters in Lord Voldemort's service. His death came by an effective Killing Spell. We regret to notify you of this most unfortunate news._

_Sincerely, _

_The Ministry of Magic_

James couldn't seem to get it out of his head. And he knew who had killed his grandfather: Severus Snape. For, he had heard one night in the corridors leading to the Slytherin common room, Snape bragging about his first 'assignment' to his friend, Regulus Black, another Junior Death Eater and also Sirius' brother.

James was jerked out of his deep, dark, thoughts, and realized Sirius had started dueling with Snape. He stood up and thought, _This is my chance for revenge_. Sirius had known about his grandfather, and had agreed to give him an opportunity for revenge by dueling Snape and thereby give James an excuse to do so also, without looking suspicious.

Snape let out a stream of mixed swearwords and hexes, but as his wand was ten feet away nothing happened.

"Wash out your mouth," said James coldly. "_Scourgify!_" Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him. _That was for you, Grandpa_, thought James, shaking uncontrollably from rage.

"Leave him ALONE!"

James and Sirius looked around. James groaned inwardly, when he discovered it was Lily Evans.

"Leave him alone," Lily repeated. She was looking at James with every sign of great dislike. "What's he done to you?"

James was in a panic state. He couldn't really tell Lily why he was hexing Snape; he had only told his friends. He didn't want people to treat him differently, even if it was to sympathize. It was just how he preferred it.

So, after some fast thinking, he simply said, "Well," appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the fact that he _exists_, if you know what I mean..." In his mind, he let a breath of relief out; he had kept his secret safe. Even if it meant that the cost was that Lily thought him an arrogant prat.

END FLASHBACK

Lily looked horrified as James told her about his grandfather's death. She looked truly miserable and regretful as she heard the side of the story she had never even considered before.

Later, when they went to bed, Lily really considered the person James had become since that day. She decided that she was proud to call him her friend. She refused to even consider the idea that he could become more than that. She squashed down the feeling of her stomach when James had put his arm around her. But it was there nevertheless.

** end chapter **

A/N: How was that? Please tell me in a review!

tenniStar514


	2. Chapter 2: The Quidditch Match

Memories

Chapter 2: The Quidditch Match

DISCLAIMER: I do not own J.K. Rowling's work.

A/N: This chapter is revised. Please review! Thank you!

** start chapter **

The next morning, the Gryffindor boys trudged down the stairs, yawning and eager to get to their breakfast. Sirius in particular was very keen to get down to one of his favorite times of day (the two others being lunch and dinner).

While they ate, they discussed a various amount of topics: famous Quidditch players, neat Quidditch moves, their favorite Quidditch teams, the Gryffindor-versus-Slytherin Quidditch game that day, and a number of related topics. They were talking excitedly about the awesome Quidditch maneuver that a famous player had pulled off during a game when the Gryffindor girls arrived at the table.

"So, James, all prepped up for the game this afternoon?" asked Lyssa. Lyssa was a natural flyer, and although she disliked playing Quidditch, she loved watching the sport.

"Oh, yeah. We should win if we're on top of our game," James replied. Despite his confident words, he felt as if eating breakfast was too much to handle for his churning stomach. He thought of all the complicated maneuvers that had been talked about during the last practice. Was the Careening Curl the one with the twirling away from the ground or was that –

The sound of Lily's voice broke James out of his thoughts.

" – you alright, James?" Lily asked cautiously. It was obvious that she had been calling his name for a while.

"Yeah, Lily, I'm fine," James replied. After all, by the time the game started, he knew he would be. Before every game his stomach would feel like a hundred butterflies were released. But the minute he was up in the air all doubts fled from his mind. And he was always safe because of the –

"Hey, James, you and Sirius better go get changed in the locker rooms," Remus exclaimed, unwittingly interrupting James' thoughts, glancing at his watch. "You only have about twenty minutes until the game starts!"

James looked at his watch, too, and dashed off as rather colorful language spilled out of his mouth, Sirius right behind him.

They ran as fast as they could toward the Quidditch pitch. Noise increased in volume approximately tenfold, as people milled around excitedly in the stands.

Sirius and James took a sharp left away from the stands which led to the locker rooms. The rest of the team was already there: Josh Connelly (Beater), Luke Parker (Keeper and Captain), Tim Brunsky (Chaser), John Toller (Chaser), and Natalie Stenavich (Seeker). They were all changed into their scarlet Quidditch robes already. Luke chastised them a bit for being late, but he had a soft spot for two of the best Quidditch players in a long time. James and Sirius ran around haphazardly, dragging on their robes and socks simultaneously. Finally, they were ready, and the match was due to start in five minutes

Right before the match started though, two girls rushed into the locker rooms. It was Lily and Lyssa. They were grinning and holding up two scarves. James and Sirius smiled at their tradition and took the red-and-gold Gryffindor scarves from the girls as "good-luck tokens". Sirius wrapped his dramatically around his neck, flinging one side over his shoulder. James, on the other hand, wound the fluttering scarf around his upper arm. The girls beamed at their two favorite boys and then dashed back to their seats high up in the stands.

As the announcer called out the Gryffindor Quidditch team, a huge cheer erupted, and the red-and-gold team spilled out onto the field. Parker and the Slytherin captain shook hands firmly, glaring at the other all the while. Everyone mounted their brooms, and there was a sudden hush of silence. Madam Donner brought out the balls and blew a sharp whistle that released the balls. The Quidditch game had begun.

Immediately, three red blurs rose up fast into the air. The Chasers had seized the Quaffle and began winding their way around the field. James ducked, as a Bludger flew his way by the Slytherin Beater. He drop-passed the Quaffle to Brunsky and then wove his way around to Toller's other side to receive the pass that they had set up. Sure enough, the red ball flew to James and he threw it as hard as he could toward the Slytherin goal. The Quaffle sailed past the middle golden hoop, despite the Keeper's attempts to stop it. Cheers rang in the stands, as a wave of red and gold stood as one to express delight on the first goal of the game.

"And Potter makes the first spectacular goal in the game!" the announcer shouted.

James grinned, and slapped palms with Toller as they passed.

The game was a close and exciting one, with Slytherin in the slight lead, 90-80. Soon, the game became dirtier and dirtier as Slytherin did their best to keep their slim lead. However, the Gryffindors were a smoothly operating team, and they got a few more goals in. The score was now 130-90, in Gryffindor favor. The Slytherins desperately used any measures to gain some ground, but Parker wasn't letting any more goals in.

Suddenly, shouts went up in the stands, and all the players turned to the two Seekers. Natalie and the Slytherin Seeker were racing downward toward the elusive Golden Snitch.

James could see that Natalie was slowly losing ground, and the Slytherin Seeker already had a triumphant look on his face. Suddenly, James tore off through the air, coming in from on opposite angle than the two Seekers. He dove as they dove, and motioned for Natalie to get out of the way. Natalie careened over to the right, and now James looked like he was going to crash into the Slytherin Seeker. The two boys locked gazes, and James could see something akin to fright in the other player's eyes. James smiled grimly and increased his speed in answer.

The three players were all coming closer to the Golden Snitch. It was clear, however, that the Slytherin Seeker would either collide into James or give up. Natalie had a clear view of the Snitch, meanwhile, since James was providing a barrier to the Slytherin Seeker.

All of a sudden, James pulled up out of his sharp dive. The Slytherin, however, was not so lucky, because Sirius had managed to hit him with a Bludger, and crashed into the ground. Natalie had her arm pulled up victoriously, with the Golden Snitch fluttering helplessly in her fist. The crowd went wild, cheering and screaming. Swarms of people ran onto the field, congratulating the Gryffindors with the first win of the season.

James, however, was scanning the throngs of people, looking for his friends. Seeing Lily, he grinned widely and thrust his fist in the air, the ends of the Gryffindor scarf fluttering in the breeze. Lily smiled back, before her expression turned into horror.

James frowned in confusion, before a hard object knocked into the back of his head. He crumpled to the ground, his hearing strangely blocked and his vision swimming. The last thing he saw were concerned pools of emerald green.

** scene change **

When James awoke, he felt his head pound from the bright lights. He soothed his burning retinas by closing his eyes immediately. From his squinted eyes, he saw two dancing spots of silver, before the bright light was muted somewhat. Opening his eyes fully, he saw that the "dancing spots" were the half-moon spectacles of Professor Dumbledore. James struggled to sit up, but his back was too sore, so he gave up on the attempt.

"Hello, James. I see you have woken up at last," said Dumbledore, sky-blue eyes twinkling laughingly. Then his merry voice took on a more serious tone of voice as he continued. "There are a few things I would like to discuss with you, James. Would you mind if we talked a bit?"

"Not at all, Professor," James replied, wondering what on earth he could have done while he was unconscious.

** end chapter **

A/N: Sorry for a slightly short chapter! I wanted to separate the talk from the match, so I split them up. Please review! Thank you!

tenniStar514


	3. Chapter 3: Hospital Liberation

Memories

Chapter 3: Hospital Liberation

DISCLAIMER: I do not own J.K. Rowling's work.

A/N: This chapter has been revised. Please review!

**start chapter general PoV**

"James, I would like to begin by asking you if you placed any charms on yourself before you played in the Quidditch match," Dumbledore said, placing the tips of his fingers together.

"No, Professor, I didn't," James replied, puzzled. "I know charms aren't allowed on the Quidditch pitch."

"They are not indeed. Perhaps another cast a spell on yourself?" Dumbledore asked. At receiving a negative shake of the head, he said, "Then we must look at alternatives. I will first explain the situation as it happened and then ask you if you have any other knowledge.

Approximately three minutes after the match was finished, the Slytherin Beater hit you in the back of the head with a Bludger, James. I'm afraid he was quite bitter. Needless to say that he has been punished thoroughly for his actions. However, the hit you took to the head was severe. You should be feeling – at the very least – a protruding bump on the back of the head."

James touched the back of his head tentatively, and frowned as his probing fingers found nothing. He looked up to his Headmaster. "I don't feel anything, Professor."

Dumbledore nodded. "Precisely, James. We were afraid that damage had been done to your skull. The protective charms that prevent any serious harm to a player went down the instant the match was over and so your head could have been dealt severe injury. Fortunately, it wasn't. However, by all rights you should have sustained some kind of mental injury or, at the very least, a bruise. You, James, received neither. Your skull was completely safe, and you merely fainted from the impact of the Bludger. Do you have any idea how this has come about, James?"

"Professor," James began slowly, "My father told me something a while ago. I don't know if it helped protect my head or not, but it's all I can think of. He said I was the last of the Potter line, and that I had some sort of inheritance…" James screwed up his face, trying desperately to remember.

"Was this the Ancient Wizards, James?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yeah! That was it! Does it have anything to do with the accident, Professor?"

"Possibly. It could have been your Gift showing through," Dumbledore replied, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

"My Gift, sir?" James asked in confusion.

"Yes, James, your Gift. Every wizard who has an Ancient inheritance is gifted with an ability that normal wizards are usually not capable of. For example, Godric Gryffindor had the ability to control and wield fire. My own Gift is an exceptional aptitude for Legilimency," Dumbledore responded.

"What is my Gift, sir?" asked James.

"Ah, that I do not know. Every wizard must discover their own. I have the suspicion that yours is to protect you and your loved ones with remarkably strong magic, much like Helga Hufflepuff's Gift. Only time will tell, however." Dumbledore remained silent for a long, contemplative moment. Then he rose to his feet and said, "Now, James, I will take my leave. I wish you a speedy recovery." With that, the Headmaster swept out of the Hospital Wing.

James lay still for a long time, thinking…

**scene change James' PoV**

"Prongs!" Sirius announced his arrival into the Hospital Wing with a loud and exuberant shout. Remus followed close behind, chuckling in amusement. Ah, my two best friends had arrived, with one conspicuously missing.

"Where's Pete?" I asked, frowning in confusion.

"He went and got himself cursed by Malfoy yesterday after Potions when he had to stay behind and finish his potion. He tried to curse him back, but Snyder saw him and gave him a detention scrubbing cauldrons without magic. You know Snyder; he knew Malfoy had cursed him, and all he said was that he'd _talk _to him. As if he would yell at one of his precious Slytherins," said Sirius, glaring at the ceiling as if it were the hated Potions Master. He grabbed a chair and threw himself in it, obviously still angry about the treatment of his friend.

"Wormtail's always getting himself beaten up by Slytherins, especially Malfoy and Snivelly," I sighed. I scowled at the thought of my greasy rival.

"So, how are you feeling, mate? Up to a midnight trip to the Shack? It's full moon tonight," said Remus, pulling up a chair to my bedside.

"Yeah! Definitely, Moony!" I brightened at the idea of another night spent exploring the hidden secrets of Hogwarts and the Forbidden Forest. I sat up in bed, already planning the things we would do that night.

A moment later, however, a thought occurred to me, which made me sink back into my fluffy pillows in despair once more. "I doubt Madam Blitzer will let me go, though. If I so much as sneeze she'll be forcing more Pepper-Up down my throat."

"Don't worry about that, mate. We've got it all figured out," replied Remus with a wink. He leaned in closer to me and whispered a few words into my ear. I grinned broadly, my smile threatening to rip my face in half.

"That, my friend, is pure genius," I said, relishing the brilliant plan. I sat back in satisfaction, knowing that in two hours (currently five o'clock) I would be free from the suffocating Hospital Wing.

"Why, thank you, Prongs," Remus responded, sweeping me a mock bow.

"Oi! What are you on about, Moony? It was all _my _idea!" said Sirius indignantly.

"Yeah, right, Padfoot. You couldn't think up a good prank if it danced naked in front of you," scoffed Remus, grinning at the knowledge that this would infuriate Sirius.

"Take that back!" shouted Sirius.

"I won't," stated Remus, lounging back in his chair leisurely, the epitome of carelessness.

"I have thought of plenty of good pranks!" said Sirius haughtily.

"Name one," challenged Remus. As Sirius began to speak, he interrupted, "That neither James or Peter or I have helped with."

For a long moment, Sirius thought. Finally, he gave up and admitted defeat. Remus crowed in victory; Sirius sulked.

"Fine. I see how it is. Obviously my genius is unappreciated by you two," Sirius said, turning his nose up in the air. Remus and I howled in laughter at his attempt in being snooty.

"Sorry Padfoot, but you just don't do the Bellatrix act very well," I said. Sirius looked horrified at being put in the same sentence as his despicable cousin. He snapped out of it after I threw a couple of Chocolate Frogs at him, though.

"Hey!" Sirius shouted as the Frogs pelted him in the head. He grabbed a handful from the pile on my bedside (tokens from well-wishers) and tossed them in my direction.

Remus was torn between which side to help so he compromised by throwing Fizzing Whizbees at the both of us.

Soon, an all-out war was going on, and unfortunately the resulting shouts were enough to make Madam Blitzer come tearing out of her office. Her mouth dropped open in shock as she took in the current state of her beloved Hospital Wing: candy was flung everywhere, some half-opened and splattered on the walls, while three boys stared innocently up at her as the chocolate smeared all over their faces and hair incriminated them.

I geared myself up for an explosion, and I wasn't disappointed. Madam Blitzer started shooing the two visiting Marauders out of the Hospital Wing, waving her arms like a windmill and chasing them out. Before he was kicked out Sirius whispered in my ear, "Don't worry, Prongs, mate. We'll have you out from under this madwoman in a jiffy. See you in the common room at eight-thirty."

After Madam Blitzer calmed down and cleaned up the remains of our candy war (all the while shooting dirty glances at me) she left and I was the only occupant of the empty Hospital Wing once more. I was left with anticipation for the coming night and a great sense of loneliness.

**scene change James' PoV**

Exactly two hours later the empty Hospital Wing was filled with loads of injured people streaming in endlessly. I grinned as I noticed that all the victims of Remus' brilliant plan were Slytherins (most likely Sirius' contribution to the prank). It was all I could do to hold in my laughter as I saw Slytherins crawling, slithering, hobbling, and even flapping into the beds. For Sirius and Remus had transformed the fifth, sixth, and seventh year Slytherins into various animals – or rather parts of them.

I saw one Slytherin who had taunted Peter last week come into the Hospital Wing with a mottled purple face, hooves attached to the limbs, and feathers sprouting out of the head. Regulus Black was having a rather hard time walking as he had one spotted chicken leg and one dolphin flipper. He also had great wings of a hippogriff sprouting out of his back.

Slytherins of all kinds were filling up all the beds, and since the damage was semi-permanent they had to stay in the Hospital Wing until Madam Blitzer made the antidote.

Needless to say, one healed Gryffindor was released since Severus Snape needed the bed so he could get rid of the lion body and feelers crowning his head.

I forced myself to walk calmly out the Hospital Wing doors even though I felt like jumping for joy (which I did the instant I closed the doors behind me).

A wide grin spread itself over my face as I thought gratefully about the brilliant friends I had. I looked down at my watch, and found that I would be slightly late to our late night adventure if I didn't hurry. I took off at a sprint down the empty corridors, headed to the Shrieking Shack where I knew Moony and Padfoot would be waiting.

**end scene**

A/N: Sorry for the slight delay. Review please! Thank you!

tenniStar514


	4. Chapter 4: Under the Light of the Full M

Memories

Chapter 4: Under the Full Moon's Light

A/N: This chapter has been revised. Warning: this chapter has a lot of setting – switching, so make sure to read the **_bold italicized _**words. Please review!

**start chapter: James' PoV**

**_In the Corridors…_**

****

I swore repeatedly under my breath as my feet beat the ground with quick rhythm and my breath came in short bursts. I was winded, but as I glanced down at my watch, I increased my speed again. I had about three minutes until moonrise, and my friends would be expecting me at our rendezvous point, my current goal: the Shrieking Shack. Cursing my low stamina, I sped up even more, constantly checking my Quidditch wristwatch on an average of about two seconds.

**General PoV**

**_In the Gryffindor Common Room…_**

" – emus! Remus!" Sirius' exasperated calling finally broke through Remus' fogged-up mind. Swiveling around from his intense gaze into the fire, Remus discovered that it was his turn to move on the chessboard. Blushing a bit that Sirius had caught him on a blank moment, he furrowed his brow in thought of his next move. As Remus was about to move the pawn, something brushed against his leg, making him jump and accidentally knock over the game board.

"Whoa, Moony! It's just Peter's cat!" Sirius said, soothing Remus.

"Sorry, Remus. Midnight just got out of the dorm," apologized Peter sheepishly.

"Let's not play right now, Padfoot," Remus sighed. "I just can't concentrate today."

"All right, Moony," Sirius agreed. "But why are you so jumpy today? I've never seen you so skittish before."

"I've never felt so restless before the full moon before. I don't know why, but I can tell the wolf is dying to get out this month. I've had a hard time controlling it this time," Remus responded, looking agitated. He got to his feet and paced around the red and gold common room for a bit, trying to walk off some of his excess nervous energy. He was usually on edge before transformations, but he had never felt this bad.

Just then, the portrait hole opened, and Professor McGonagall entered, stepping regally through the hole in the wall.

"Come along, Mr. Lupin. Your mother is waiting for you at home. It seems she has fallen ill once more," she said, her expression soft as she looked at Remus. It was clear that Professor McGonagall felt much pity and concern for one of her favorite model students.

"Yes, Professor," replied Remus in accordance. He scrambled to his feet, swaying a bit before regaining his balance. It didn't escape Sirius' notice that Remus seemed a bit paler than before McGonagall had come in. After patting his friend reassuringly on the back and silently giving him moral support, Sirius watched as Remus left the common room, bravely giving a weak smile.

"Sorry, Padfoot, but I'd better go to detention now. Snyder will kill me if I'm late. I'll see you later," said Peter. With that, he, too, climbed out of the portrait hole.

Sirius waited an impatient three minutes exactly until he knew McGonagall was gone, and raced upstairs to the dormitory room. Upon opening James' trunk, he pulled out the revered Invisibility Cloak and stuffed it under his robe, effectively (hopefully) concealing it from sight.

The lone Marauder walked deceivingly calmly out of the portrait hole, pulling on the Cloak in the darkness of the corridor and crept after the professor and student… out to the Shrieking Shack.

**General PoV**

**_By the Whomping Willow…_**

"Are you quite sure you'll be all right, Remus?" asked Professor McGonagall concernedly – just as she did every full moon.

"I'll be fine, Professor," lied Remus, just as he always did. _Besides, there's nothing she could do even if I said anything else_, he thought to himself. _Better to lie than make her feel pity for me._

With a nod in response, Professor McGonagall searched around in the nearby bushes until she found the long stick hidden there. She prodded a darkened knot near the base of the tree trunk and the tree froze in mid-attempt to cleanly swipe off Remus' head.

Flashing a tight smile in his teacher's direction, Remus turned and headed down into the dark tunnel. Even underground, Remus could hear McGonagall's receding footsteps, courtesy of his excellent, lupine hearing.

The tunnel that had been dug underneath the Whomping Willow was dark and damp. On occasion, a small animal would scuttle around the dank opening, but they never came as far as the Shrieking Shack; the howls from the run-down building were enough motivation for all small creatures and rodents to stay far away.

Although the Shack was technically in Hogsmeade, Dumbledore had long since made the tunnel shortened by magic, ever since the memorable incident in which Remus had transformed in the middle of the tunnel. So now the tunnel was considerably shorter, only a few yards.

Sighing a bit, Remus pushed open the door of the Shack, being careful not to close it all the way; the doors were charmed to be impossible to open once the door shut. Remus took off all his clothes and set them neatly in a trunk there for that very purpose; since the scent of the human on it might drive him mad with bloodlust, the clothes were always locked away from him.

Remus lay down on the hard, cold floor and waited for the moon to rise…

**General PoV**

**_On the Hogwarts Grounds…_**

James cast an anxious look up to the sky, racing across the damp lawn covering the Hogwarts Grounds. He could see a very faint light where the moon would soon be rising on the horizon. James knew that the moon rose at nine this night (the Marauders charted the moonrises every month) and from that minute, gentle Remus Lupin would become a snarling, rabid animal – a werewolf.

Although the other three Marauders could not go near Remus on full moons, they had been determined to help their friend. So, since they had found out in second year about Remus' lycanthropy, they had searched and toiled for three long years until they reaped their reward: the three of them had become Animagi and could successfully transform into their animal forms at will.

James' form was a regal stag (hence the nickname "Prongs"), Sirius became a Grim-like dog (known as "Padfoot"), and Peter transformed into a small rat (nicknamed "Wormtail"). And of course, Remus was known as "Moony" (a reference to his lycanthropy).

With a start, James realized that he had finally reached the entrance to the Shrieking Shack. He saw a faint shimmer in the air, and realized that his friend was there, under the Cloak. Sure enough, Sirius revealed himself, silently greeting him. The two Marauders waited for the tell-tale howl from Remus telling them he had transformed…

**General PoV**

**_In the Shrieking Shack…_**

****

Remus watched through the grimy window of the Shack. He knew instantly when the moon's rays reached through the windows; he felt the shock to his body at that moment. A series of tremors ripped through his body, seizing his limp form and throwing him to the ground. There Remus lay, gasping for breath, tears streaming from his eyes. The moon's beams were relentless and they continued tore through his body repeatedly. Then moon shone fully over the horizon, rising up into the inky sky. The transformation started then.

Remus' limbs began to shake, even as he lay on the floor. Remus screamed in agony as his bones rearranged themselves to foreign positions with sharp cracks and the skin was ripped viciously as his slim form writhed and jerked. Hair grew from every part of his slim body, and a long, furry tail sprouted. Where there were two legs and arms the body forced out four walking limbs. The warm amber eyes of Remus Lupin constricted, and were swallowed up by a poisoned yellow.

As Remus lay there in his new form of the wolf, he drew quick, short breaths. The urge to cry out washed over him, and Remus gave in to the impulse. Instead of the cry of a human, however, the tormented howl of a wolf was ripped from his throat.

Once his strength slowly returned to him, Remus put his head down on the floor and waited…

**General PoV**

**_Outside the Whomping Willow…_**

****

The forlorn howls of the wolf split the velvety silence outside the Whomping Willow. Instantly, James picked up the stick cast aside by Professor McGonagall and froze the tree once more. Then, transforming, the two of them headed down into the dark tunnel to greet their furry friend.

**General PoV**

**_Inside the Shrieking Shack…_**

****

Moony could hear two pairs of distant footsteps, coming ever nearer. He perked up his ears and stood up, every line in his lupine body showing interest. He trotted forward a bit, when the two visitors nudged through the door.

Padfoot trotted down first, and was immediately tackled by Moony in his overabundant joy. The two were still playfully wrestling when Prongs entered, antlers nearly scraping the doorframe, even as he bowed his head. Prongs just cocked his head and watched the mock battle with amusement and affection showing clearly in his liquid eyes.

The two canine members of the group finally broke apart. It was clear that Padfoot had declared himself the winner, with a doggy-grin on his face, tongue lolled out to the side, and his laughing blue eyes. Of course, Moony was very put out, what with Padfoot cheating and all. But the two perked up once more when Prongs indicated with a jerk of his head that they should be off.

The three of them headed up through the tunnel, dismantling various traps and such automatically. They climbed up through the hole at the base of the Whomping Willow and started off in the direction of the Forbidden Forest – their conquest of the night.

Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs stepped cautiously past the tree line of the Forest, swiveling their heads every which way to discern if they were in any immediate danger. Deciding that it was safe, Prongs gave the all-clear signal and the three animals continued into the Forest.

The Forest was dark and moist, and beautiful in a way that was both exotic and haunting. The trees were alive with various nightlife, ordinary animals like squirrels, and rarer creatures such as the Wockabees. Lush plants and growths scattered the floor of the Forest. Non-magical and magical flowers sprung up everywhere, very different in their qualities, but same in their breathtaking beauty. There were blossoms that sung lullabies while swaying in the breeze, and others that shone with iridescent light from the center. The entire scene was covered with a hazy silence, only interrupted by the occasional mates calling to one another, and the Forest seemed like an eerie world all of its own.

Suddenly, Moony sniffed the air and turned his head agitatedly as he sensed something not of the Forest. It was a warm, pulsing scent, constantly flowing and rushing. It was the scent that the wolf craved so deeply… human blood! With a low growl in his throat Moony bounded off, Padfoot and Prongs desperately following behind.

Moony's excellent nose picked out the source of the blood immediately. It was coming from a low brush near a moon-lit clearing. Peering through the velvety darkness Moony's eyes sought what he found instantly – two pools of fearful, gray eyes. Driven mad by the wolf's craving, Moony lunged at the human.

Then, out of nowhere, a pair of antlers threw the wolf out of the way. Snarling now, Moony tore a great gash in the middle of Prongs' chest, making him slump to the ground, dizzy from the loss of blood.

Turning back to his prey, Moony attempted another sating of his desire. He pulled back the bush and was about to sink his flashing fangs into the girl's leg, when Padfoot pushed him to the side and rolled him over. While Moony and Padfoot each tried to gain the upper hand in their fight, they both received deep scratches, while lashing back at each other. Finally, Padfoot pinned the wolf to the ground.

The girl had the sense to run back through the Forest, and head towards the school. Since the girl wasn't harmed she didn't report to the infirmary, so Moony was safe from being discovered missing at the Shrieking Shack.

Moony strained at first to get out from underneath Padfoot, as he could still sense his prey running through the Forest. Padfoot was just too heavy, though. Moony was nearly suffocating from combined pressure of attempting to get up and the weight sitting on his stomach. He was trapped.

When the urge to kill and bite had receded, Moony looked into the eyes of his packmate and realized his friends for who they were. The relief showed in Padfoot's eyes as he recognized Moony had regained his sense. Padfoot quickly released his hold over Moony, and let him back up to his feet.

The three of them headed out of the Forest, and Prongs indicated that it was time for the Animagi to return. They escorted Moony through the tunnel to the Shack, where they finally allowed the door to close and lock.

Moony watched sadly as his friends left, leaving him miserably alone. He gazed up at the silvery orb in the sky which held such power over him, and howled in desolation. He curled up in a tight ball on the cold floor of the Shrieking Shack, waiting desperately for the sun to come up.

**General PoV**

**_Inside the Gryffindor Common Room…_**

****

James and Sirius stumbled up what seemed like an eternity of stairs, tripping exhaustedly into the Gryffindor Common Room. They flopped themselves down on the couch near where Lily was already seated.

"Oh, Merlin," Lily muttered. "Poor Remus must have been really wild tonight for you to be in this bad of a shape…" Not bothering to wait for a reply, Lily kneeled by James, closing and spread her hands over his body.

White light shone silently in an ethereal manner around Lily. James felt a cool wave wash over his body, rather as if he was detached from his body. Tingles raced up and down his spine from the odd sensation. His body was limp, and the stinging had disappeared. James watched, fascinated as he always was, as his wounds sealed themselves, white light dimming from them as they did.

Every full moon, after James and Sirius came back to the common room, since Lily had discovered them one night two years ago, she would wait up and heal their wounds. Although Lily hadn't known why they kept getting injured until they were good enough friends, she had healed them using her powers as a descendant of the Elven race.

Finally, Lily opened her eyes as all of James' wounds were healed. "Thanks, Lil. Brilliant job, as usual," James grinned at her. Flashing a brief smile at him, Lily started working on Sirius' injuries.

Still lying on the couch, James watched as Lily healed again, mesmerized. Lily's brow was beaded with sweat, and rogue strands of hair had escaped from her ponytail. Her body was slumped in tired lines. The robes she was wearing were rumpled from sitting in a chair for hours.

She was the most beautiful thing James had ever laid his eyes on.

After Lily had finished her healing, the three of them went upstairs.

Sirius mumbled a tired goodnight to Lily then stumbled as fast as he could to collapse onto his bed, shutting the dorm door.

"Sleep well, Lil," called James softly, lingering behind for a bit. He longed to say something else, but he bit down on his tongue firmly to prevent it from coming out.

"'Night, James. Sweet dreams," Lily said back. Then she disappeared behind the softly closed dormitory door.

James thought about her words as he undressed and slid into bed. _The only way I'll have sweet dreams is if I'm dreaming of you, Lily…_

**end chapter**

A/N: How was that? Quite a lot longer than I expected, but I guess that's alright. Please tell me what you think in a review! Thanks!

tenniStar514


	5. Chapter 5: Christmas Cheer

Memories

Chapter 5: Christmas Cheer

DISCLAIMER: I don't own J.K. Rowling's work.

A/N: This chapter has been revised. Please review!

**start chapter**

Remus opened his eyes and almost immediately closed them again. Groaning, he thought, _I have bloody incredible luck. There is only one room in the Hospital Wing that's next to a window – and I'm in it. That's true Lupin Luck, as Sirius says. _Cursing Madam Blitzer and her overzealous love for bright light, Remus struggled to open his eyes once more.

Looking around, Remus found that he was indeed in the window bed of the Hospital Wing, and apparently the only patient currently in the infirmary. Sliding his gaze back to his own bed, he saw his fellow Marauders grouped around his bedside, heads down on their arms. Fondness for the boys he called his brothers and gratefulness for such good friends rose up in his chest.

Sirius was snoring loudly, a string of drool hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Peter was simply dead to the world. Remus could hear James mumbling faintly, and soon his tell-tale eyebrow began twitching. Remus relaxed against his pillows, smiling up at the ceiling. _Three…two…one…_

James jerked awake and looked around with a panicked gaze. James made quite a sight: his hair was sticking up all over, rumpled from sleeping, his eyes were wild and crazed-looking, and creased lines were drawn all over his face. Remus couldn't help it; he burst out laughing. The laughter was too much for his strained lungs, though, and his laughter turned into fierce coughs that wracked his body. Of course the coughing fit woke up Sirius, who pulled up his head blearily and squinted though his drooping eyes. Judging from the sound that rivaled a herd of rampaging hippogriffs, however, Peter was still fast asleep.

Gasping for breath, Remus attempted to control his laughter and regulate his ragged breathing. His friends definitely were _not _morning people.

"Oh, shut it, you. That's the thanks I get for being such a nice, caring friend. Getting laughed at in my face," grumbled James good-naturedly. Yawning and rubbing his face tiredly, he attempted to shake Peter awake, but the snoring continued.

"Here, allow _me _to show you how it's done," Sirius said, who had by now somewhat woken up. Bringing out his wand, he waved it, saying '_Avis!_' A noise like a gunshot rang out, and what appeared to be twenty birds flew and twittered, circling Peter's head. When Peter persisted in sleeping, the birds began to peck at any available skin and screech obnoxiously into his ear. Remus collapsed with laughter again at the sight of Peter trying to brush the birds away, mumbling, "Not now, Mum… I'll get up later…"

"Yeah, you sure showed me, Padfoot. All you managed to do was make Pete think you're his mum," James scoffed. "Let the master of pranking show you how it's done." James conjured streams of water from his wand and directed it onto Peter, but he only rolled over, even with water pouring in torrents out of James' wand.

"Ha! Even you can't do better, Potter!" crowed Sirius. This, of course, started a squabble between the two of them, James and Sirius arguing about who was the better pranker. During this period of about two minutes James completely put the still-streaming wand out of his mind. Of course, it was up to Remus to bring him back into reality.

"James! James! JAMES POTTER!" Remus finally had to resort to shouting to let himself be heard over the two others' immature fighting.

"Huh? What, Moony?"

"I think that's enough water on Peter. Really, James! Any more and you'll keep him in bed for three weeks with pneumonia!" Sheepishly, James stopped his wand from conjuring more water, and dried up Peter as an afterthought.

"Now, I think I can resolve the matter of Peter sleeping in too long, even if you two pathetic pranksters can't," Remus said, grinning.

"Outrageous! How dare you call us pathetic!" shouted Sirius. He made as if to punch Remus (in jest, of course).

"Now, now, Sirius. You would never try to hurt poor little Remus, would you?" Remus asked with a pitiful expression on his face. Then, as a thought occurred to him, and a wicked smile broke over his face as he continued, "Poor, defenseless Remus who is recovering from a sickness and happens to be under Madam Blitzer's care?"

Remus grinned with satisfaction as he watched Sirius go pale at the mention of the matron. Slumping with pretended defeat, Sirius said, "I guess I'll have to thrash you good another time, Moony."

"Yeah, yeah. You can try, Padfoot," Remus responded with bravado. Continuing, he said, "But anyway, back to Wormtail."

Leaning so that his mouth was right by Peter's ear, he said in a loud, urgent voice, "Pete! Wake up! You have to study for our potions test!"

Peter jerked awake faster than anyone had ever seen the infamously heavy sleeper wake up.

Remus grinned in triumph, as Sirius slumped back in his chair.

"Well, Jim m'boy, it looks like we _are_ pretty pathetic pranksters if we didn't even think of that."

**scene change**

**James' PoV**

I drifted up to the surface of consciousness. I lay still in my bed, unwilling to greet the new day. But it seemed as if the day wasn't feeling very accommodating of my moroseness and was trying its hardest to greet me. Sunlight poured through my window, lighting up every nook and cranny of the dormitory – and shining its absolute brightest on my firmly closed eyelids.

Moaning, I rolled over and attempted to fall back asleep, but it was in vain. I am a very light sleeper, so once I wake up it's very hard to fall back asleep again. It's a cursed Potter trait, I hear.

Anyway, mumbling various profanities about the sun and its determination to get me out of bed, I yawned and sleepily plodded about the dorm, tossing on some clothes from piles of wrinkled clothing flung about our room. Trudging down to the Great Hall, my abysmal mood was lifted somewhat by the beautiful traditional decorations that brightened up the hall.

Five towering Christmas trees had been dragged into the Great Hall by Hagrid, and they looked magnificent. On them hung twinkling stars, glowing lights, and assorted enchanted ornaments. Mistletoe, wreaths, and ribbons adorned the ceiling and walls. Silvery icicles hung from above and flashed brightly in the light. Tiny candles flickered as they lit up the interior of the castle, providing a warm glow and a similar atmosphere.

I found that I could not stay in my bad mood under the gentle glow of the candles, with faces smiling everywhere, and a generally pleasant tone to the place that just rang of home.

Settling myself down on the Gryffindor table, I resigned myself to being the sole sixth-year Gryffindor at Hogwarts for Christmas. The rest of my friends had left for home on the train yesterday afternoon, asking repeatedly if I was going to be alright and waving reluctantly good-bye, leaving me all on my own for the holiday.

Although my parents had wanted me home this year, I declined; they were going off to Rome to visit my stiff relatives, and I had already had enough experience with them to know that I didn't want to be there. So I had foolishly decided to stay back on my own, thinking that I wouldn't be lonesome at all.

How wrong I was.

It had only been seventeen hours (I had counted), but I was already bored out of my mind and terribly lonely. Although a lot of the younger years were around to idolize me, I found I couldn't quite put up with it as much as when Remus was around. And although I had thought of plenty of pranks to pull, there was no Sirius to brainstorm with, and no eager Peter to help spy. And of course without the girls there wasn't much cheerful banter or insistence on festivities.

Sighing, I dragged my spoon around in my bowl a bit, squinting at the odd shapes the swirls of cinnamon were making in my oatmeal. Suddenly, I realized what I was doing, and flung down my spoon in disgust. I, James Potter, Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, Transfiguration expert, and infamous Marauder, had been making shapes with my oatmeal. How low had I sunk!

I just stared with blank eyes for a few moments, afraid to move in case I did anything horribly embarrassing again. It's funny, I mused to myself, loneliness does things to the eyes. Because suddenly I was having a hallucination of Lily Evans running through the Great Hall doors. The hallucination rushed up to me and hugged me tightly.

Oh.

I guess it wasn't a hallucination after all.

"Lil?" I asked, confused. "Why are you here? I thought you went home yesterday morning!"

"Well, my parents decided to spend the rest of the week at my sister's fiancé's house. I…decided to pass. So I came back!" She said brightly, in true Lily-style.

"How come? Is your sister's fiancé _that _bad?" I asked somewhat skeptically.

"Hmm… How to answer that… Well, let me just say that he's about as pleasant as my sister herself," Lily answered.

"Ah," I said. _Now _I understood. I had heard Lily talk about her sister before. "What's her name again? Begonia, or something?"

"Petunia," Lily corrected, laughing. Sobering up a bit, she continued, "They're quite nice together, actually. They deserve each other, just like Malfoy and Narcissa. _That _should give you some idea of what they're like."

"_Oh_. That bad, huh?" I asked sympathetically.

"Yep," said Lily, nodding her head. Brightening up, she said, "Oh, I nearly forgot! I have your Christmas present! Have you opened your gifts yet?"

"Nope, I was actually kind of depressed this morning, so I didn't yet," I responded with a shrug.

"Oh, good! We can open ours together, then!" Lily exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, let's," I said, smiling at her. Lily's enthusiasm was just so catching.

**scene change**

**James' PoV**

"Look! Brooke got me some earrings!" Lily eagerly pulled them through the piercing in her ears and turned to show James. "What do you think, James?"

"They look absolutely _dashing_, darling," I responded in a typical way. I was trying to imitate a Muggle I'd seen on the tebbelision-thing Lily had showed me once, but judging by the fact that Lily had dissolved in giggles, I assumed I wasn't doing a very good job of it.

"Mmm, these Sugar Quills are really good," I sighed as the candy melted in my mouth.

"Mmm-hmm," agreed Lily contently, resting her back against the sofa.

Shreds of wrapping paper littered the surrounding area of the Gryffindor common room. A warm fire was lit in the fireplace and cast shadows on all the gifts we had received, scattered around the floor. The atmosphere was warm and comfortable.

Suddenly, Lily snapped her head up, "I nearly forgot to give you your gift! Let me go get it real quick."

"Oh yeah," I said, belatedly remembering the gift I had stored in our dorm. "Hang on, I'll go get mine, too." Dashing up the stairs I searched frantically in the dorm for the present – under the bed, in the closet, in my desk, everywhere. But the present was simply not to be found. Slumping on my bed, I thought miserably about how Lily would have loved the present. Falling backwards onto the bed, I felt a strange lump underneath me.

Oh. There it was.

I remembered now leaving it on my bed so I would remember to send it; I had forgotten to send it with everyone else's the previous afternoon.

Bursting with joy that I had not indeed lost it, I ran back downstairs to find Lily.

"Here, open mine first," I said, thrusting the package at Lily. I watched her carefully open the wrapping paper, and draw out the gift inside. I watched her face, wanting to see if she liked it, or if she was simply being polite. Seeing the ecstatic expression on her face, I decided that she liked it. I knew I had picked a good gift.

Her present was a necklace. A crystalline lily hung as a pendant on a thin, golden chain. I knew that engraved in gold on the back of the pendant was Lily's name, with a small diamond chip dotting the _i_. I also knew, although she might not have, that the pendant had a strong safety charm on it, and that it served doubly as an amulet warding against most dark magic as well. I had grown rather paranoid, if I do admit myself, since my grandfather had died, and I had attached safety charms on every gift I had given out this year.

"Oh, James!" Lily breathed. "It's beautiful! I can't even tell you…it's just…oh!" Apparently Lily was lost for words, so she found solace in cutting off my air supply with her vise-like grip around my neck.

"Lily! Can't breathe!" I gasped. As she let go of my neck sheepishly, I massaged my throat gently.

"Sorry, James. It's just so beautiful," Lily apologized, gazing, mesmerized at her gift.

"It's alright, Lil. Well, I assume you like it then," I said wryly, with a grin on my face. "Here, turn around. I'll help you put it on."

Lily turned her back to me, handing me the necklace, lifting up her hair to expose the back of her neck. As I tried to fasten the rather complicated clasp, I became rather distracted by the creamy skin on the nape of her neck. Her intoxicating perfume didn't help matters much, either. Finally, though, I managed to fumble the clasp together and handed Lily a mirror to see her reflection through.

After a few silent moments of admiring the pendant, Lily turned back towards me and handed me her gift.

Carefully pulling apart the paper that covered the wrapped parcel, I drew out what looked to be some very strange shoes. They looked like white ankle boots, with laces all the way up, and a sharp metal blade protruding from the bottom of each shoe.

"What are _these_?" I asked Lily in confusion.

"They're _ice skates_, James. Muggles go ice skating all the time in the winter, and I thought it would be fun!" enthused Lily.

"What do you _do _with them?"

"You wear them, of course!"

"Muggles actually _wear _these things?" I asked skeptically, holding up the weird shoes.

"Yes, James. We can go try them out on the lake right now! Let's go!" cried Lily, dragging me up by my wrist.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I mumbled to myself as I allowed myself to be dragged outside.

It turned out that my little prediction was destined to be proved correct. I feel that the less said about the whole experience, the better. Although it was fun, I ended up on my backside more often than on the actual skates. Even though I valiantly got up again after every fall, I simply slipped and fell again in a matter of seconds. After a while, I gave up and sat down on a bench, watching Lily skate.

Lily was a really good skater, I discovered. Apparently, she always went ice skating in winter with her family, and had been since she was about five years old. She looked like she was floating as she zipped across the smooth surface of the frozen lake, her crimson hair fanning out like a scarlet banner, and her robe billowing out behind her.

When I finally got the courage to try skating again (or rather, when my rear end got some feeling back into it) I managed to skate in a wobbly fashion around the lake twice.

After I declared my huge accomplishment, Lily and I had a huge snowball fight. We pelted packed snowballs at each other, ducking behind forts we had made. Occasionally one of us would ambush the other behind the wall of snow. We declared a truce, and traipsed into the castle, soaking wet but exhilarated.

As I went to bed that night, I thought of how my Christmas had gone from sour to the best ever. All because of one person – Lily Evans.

**end chapter**

A/N: Sorry for having taking a long time. Anyway, this chapter is really long in my standards, so I hope it makes up for it. This didn't turn out as well as I'd wanted, but I hope you still like it. Review please!

tenniStar514


	6. Chapter 6: Pranks and Utter Chaos

Memories

Chapter 6: Pranks and Utter Chaos

DISCLAIMER: I do not own J.K. Rowling's work.

A/N: This chapter has been revised. Please review!

**start chapter**

**General PoV**

"Ladies and gentlemen. We are gathered here today to commemorate our joyous reunion that has finally ended the tortuous holiday break. Through the harsh separation our hearts have grown fonder," here Sirius dramatically placed his hand over his heart, "and – hey! Is anyone actually _listening _to me?"

A snore, three vacant looks, and two bored ones answered him.

"Nope," Remus acted as spokesperson. "So why don't you skip ahead, instead of letting us die of boredom listening to your dramatics?"

"Oh, who's the one being dramatic _now_?" Sirius retorted.

"Still you, mate," James yawned. He turned to his right side and shook Peter awake, saying, "Come on, Pete, Sirius has finally agreed to get to the point."

"Fine," huffed Sirius. "As I was _saying_, hopefully we've all been thinking up clever ideas over the hols, good suggestions for pranks that we can pull. So… anyone have any ideas?"

"Yeah, I have one. How 'bout we let James make the speech next time?" Remus suggested innocently.

"Shut it, Moony," Sirius scowled in his direction. All he got for his pains was a cheeky grin in response.

"Hey, guys! I just got a brilliant idea!" James shouted. Leaning in towards the rest, he said, "Here's what we're going to do…"

**scene change**

**General PoV**

During Potions class the next morning, one of the two dark-haired boys sitting in the back corner of the room lifted his head and looked at the other back corner occupied by two fair-haired boys. Remus, coincidentally sitting right behind Severus Snape's cauldron, lifted his head and gave the Marauder signal to James, with a mischievous grin in addition.

James in turn whispered to Sirius that Snape's potion was ready. Quick as a flash, Sirius stood up while Professor Snyder's back was turned for an instant and lobbed a bound concoction into Severus Snape's cauldron. The resulting explosion shook the very walls of the dungeon room.

Whirling around at the sound, Professor Snyder saw a shell-shocked Severus Snape, but a rather different version than he was used to. His whole head had shrunken to the size of a goblin's, with bits of wrinkly skin hanging off his cheekbones. His head was completely devoid of hair, and had an additional yellowish tinge to the top of it. The rest of Snape was completely normal…except for the smell.

A peculiar odor made up of rotten newts, the kind of public toilet that no one cleans, mixed in with a couple of dead slugs hung around the air, persistently clinging to Snape. Needless to say, the nearby students shifted their desks and cauldrons, giving Snape a wide berth about six feet in diameter.

The wrinkly thing that greatly resembled Sirius' house-elf shrunk in the seat, the neck and face awash in a flush so radiant it would have put roses to shame.

The class settled down under Professor Snyder's instructions, although titters broke out every once in a while. The professor continued to glare suspiciously at four particular Gryffindor boys for the rest of the hour.

**scene change**

**General PoV**

"Guess what?" Sirius shouted excitedly as he burst into the dormitory. He stared around at the languid boys that were lounging around in varying states of boredom.

"What's wrong with you lot?" he queried.

His answer was three heads turning simultaneously and staring vacantly at him.

"Okay," Sirius said slowly. Then, remembering what he was so excited about, he said, "Well, anyway, guess what?"

He looked expectantly at the other three boys, but if he had wanted a big reaction he was sadly disappointed. All he got was three blank looks.

"I went into Hogsmeade today and bought this stuff," Sirius said, holding up a can.

Finally, after about five minutes of silence, James moved his head one inch to the side to read the label. This was the first time anyone had moved within the hour, and it seemed to jolt the other two back into existence; Remus shifted his arm up an inch and Peter wiggled two of his toes.

"Super Sticky Slime?" asked James, still tilting his head.

"Oh, yeah," Sirius grinned. "The amount in the can is enough to coat about one floor of the castle with bright green goo. No one'll be able to get it off except us, so even if we get detention, we'll be able to use magic to clean it up."

"Brilliant!" Remus said, propping his head up onto his arms.

"What should we use it for?" Peter asked, rubbing the foot that apparently fell asleep.

"How about the fourth floor corridor?" Remus suggested. "If we spread it in the morning before classes we won't have to go to Potions, we won't have to see Snyder until he gets it off since he won't be able to get out of his rooms, and we'll be free to explore that one passage on the map."

"Great idea!" enthused Sirius. "Let's do it tomorrow morning!"

"I'll go tell the girls about it," James volunteered, getting up from his bed.

"Prongs just wants to go to see Lily," teased Sirius. James turned a bright red, even as he fiercely denied it.

"Prongsie likes Lily, Prongsie likes Lily," said Sirius in a sing-song voice. "Prongsie likes Li – mph!" The pillow thrown at his head muffled his taunts. Pretty soon an all-out pillow fight had begun.

"What's going on?" Brooke poked her head in the door and looked around at the boys.

"A pillow fight!" shouted Lyssa, who came in behind her. Lily trailed in last. "Let us join in, too!"

"All right," Sirius shrugged. "Here, let's split up into teams…"

An hour later, Professor McGonagall went upstairs to see what all the muffled noise and shrieking was being caused by. As she opened the door, all action immediately ceased and her mouth dropped open at the sight before her eyes.

Feathers were everywhere, floating gently down from the clouds they had been released in. James and Lily were crouched inside a plastic dome Transfigured from a bedpost and charmed to repel any object that touched it. Sirius held two huge, fluffy marshmallows that he had conjured, one each above Peter and Lyssa. Remus was cowering on the floor, while Brooke froze with a pillow the size of a large boulder above his head.

"Never, in my entire life – I – Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, explain yourselves!" spluttered Professor McGonagall. James had never seen his professor so flustered.

"Well, what it is – " James started to speak, but was cut off by Lily's quiet voice.

"Professor, it wasn't just James and Sirius; we're all at fault, and we apologize. Punish all of us equally," she said. James could hear in her voice a quiet determination for justice, and couldn't help admiring her for it.

A week later found them all organizing Filch's cabinets. Luckily, McGonagall softened up a bit because of Lily's confession, and so they were all in the same detention. The three hours were spent laboriously re-writing all the faded descriptions of punishments and shoving them back into their correct spots. The Marauders had an entire side of the wall devoted to their punishments, and they all enjoyed themselves immensely, reminiscing over past pranks that they had forgotten about.

"Oy, look here! Remember when we levitated Snape at breakfast wearing a ballerina's costume? I don't ever remember Dumbledore trying so hard not to laugh. Good times," Sirius said with a sigh and a dramatic sniff.

"Hey, this is the time when we put antlers on that seventh year. Nott, I think it was," James laughed, remembering the incident from fifth year.

The Marauders were inspired from reading about all their past deeds and pulled the record number of pranks in the next month. They coated the fourth floor with the Slime, as planned. The next prank was enchanting the fur of Apollyon Pringle's cat the change colors every time she moved, making her increasingly unwilling to move. They caused Malfoy and his cronies to speak in embarrassingly high and squeaky voices for an entire week, heartily getting their fill of laughter all the while. Severus Snape got the honor of being chosen to dance most inappropriately during dinner one evening, belting out the tune to a Celestina Warbeck song while wearing tight leather trousers. The suits of armor had their fun chasing down Professor McGonagall every time they saw her, loudly singing Christmas carols with rude lyrics. All these pranks were pulled through all of January, into the middle of February.

Of course, at this time, all the girls in the school seemed revived and started their usual giggling and ogling at the prospective boys in the school. Why?

Valentine's Day.

A/N: Please review! They are most appreciated! Thank you!

tenniStar514


	7. Chapter 7: A Night to Remember

Memories

Chapter 7: A Night to Remember

DISCLAIMER: I do not own J.K. Rowling's work.

A/N: This chapter has been revised. Please review!

**start chapter**

**General PoV**

February fourteenth. Valentine's Day. The day for which all the girls in the castle get excited for weeks beforehand, holding up corridors to whisper and giggle at various boys.

This year, however, the normal bustle and excitement was rather heightened by the fact that Professor Dumbledore announced that there would be a formal dinner followed by a dance on the night of the fourteenth. Everyone needed to be dressed formally, whether in robes or Muggle attire, and they would be allowed to attend with a partner.

Of course, the four "most wanted" boys were James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Sirius, however, was out of the running because he had finally gotten the courage to ask Lyssa out "after ages of pretending to snog her in the mirror", according to James, and Peter had bashfully asked a fifth-year Gryffindor. The girls didn't get too disappointed after they remembered neither James nor Remus had dates yet.

The remaining two Marauders were mobbed every chance the girls got, much to the hilarity of Sirius and Peter. Eventually, they had to resort to secret passageways in order to get to classes on time.

"Whew! That was too close," James said, wiping the sweat off his forehead and leaning on the wall. "We almost let them catch us."

"This is getting insanely out of hand," said Remus tiredly. Wrinkling his forehead in thought, he muttered, "The only way to shake them off is to…" Suddenly, he snapped his head up and said, "James, I have an idea!" He grabbed James by the hand and dragged him out into the corridor where the excited group of girls surrounded them once more.

"Ladies! I have an announcement to make!" Remus shouted. Almost immediately, there was silence in the hallway. Smiling now, and clearing his voice, Remus continued, "James and I have decided who we will take to the dance."

Remus waited patiently for the next five minutes before continuing, waiting for the mob of girls to stop screaming in anticipation. "We've decided to go with the pattern our fellow Marauders have set and just take our Gryffindor girls to the formal. We're very sorry if we've disappointed you."

Quick as a flash, Remus and James shot down the corridor while the girls digested what had just happened.

Peter was climbing up the staircase to the fourth floor, wondering whether his fellow Marauders had finished their Arithmancy class, when a huge group of girls fled down the stairs, sobbing into their robes and blowing their noses loudly. _James and Remus must have announced their dates… _

**scene change**

**General PoV**

The next few days were rather uneventful, and were marred only by spiteful attacks on Lily, Lyssa, Brooke, and Krista (the shy fifth-year Peter was taking) by jealous girls. One day, Lily came to class and showed them her blistered fingers and the shiny burns on her cheek. She said that someone had sent her an anonymous envelope filled with dancing flames that had sparked all over her. James got furious and announced angrily in the hallway that the next person to attack Lily would wake up with an unpleasant surprise. The threat was taken very seriously for James' temper was legendary within Hogwarts; on the rare occasion that he got truly angry, people had been known to be sent to the Hospital Wing.

On the day of the formal, classes were ended early so the students could get ready for that night. The Gryffindors split up later that afternoon; the girls went straight up to their dormitories to start getting ready, while the boys lazed around in the common room playing Exploding Snap. Then, about fifteen minutes before the dinner was due to start, the boys went up the stairs to put on their clothing.

"Oy, Prongs, have you seen my vest?" yelled Sirius, digging frantically through the pile of clothes flung in one corner.

"Sorry, mate, haven't seen it," James said, desperately trying to flatten his hair with a wet comb.

"Might as well give up, James," said Remus amusedly as he pulled on his tall boots. "You're never going to get it to lie flat. Unless…"

"Unless what, Moony?" asked James eagerly, whipping around to face his friend. "Tell me!"

"Well, my mum had this charm to make her hair smooth down. Let's see if it'll work," said Remus with a shrug. Whipping out his wand, he shouted out an incantation and made an odd twisting motion with his wrist. Sirius turned from digging through clothes to look on with interest.

"I don't think it quite worked…" said Sirius with a snigger a moment later. James turned towards the mirror and leapt back with a feminine shriek. His hair was flat, all right. In fact, it was plastered to his head as if he had glued it there, making him look like a rather striking version of Snape.

"Change it back, change it back!" shouted James, dancing in hysteria around the room.

"Oy, Sirius! Is this your vest in the sink?" Peter's voice floated out of the bathroom.

"My vest! Peter, you saint!" shouted Sirius, rushing to get his precious clothing article.

Peter came out of the bathroom, drying his hair with his wand. Watching James dance around the room and Remus howling with laughter on his bed, he decided not to ask. When you were a Marauder, it was usually safer not to know.

**scene change**

**General PoV**

The four Marauders stood in a straight line at the bottom of the staircase, with their hands behind their backs, feet snapped sharply together, and gazes pointed expectantly at the girls' side of the staircase. A few minutes later, four girls came down, looking (in the boys' most admittedly biased opinion) as if they had descended from the heavens.

Lily was the first to walk down. As the theme for the formal was based on the literary wizard, Shakespeare, they had all dressed for the theme. In an antique clothing store, Lily had found a beautiful dress. It was wine-colored, with scatterings of silver leaves embroidered on the hemlines. The scooped neckline was ruffled with lace, and the puffy sleeves fell to reveal her pale shoulders. Slashed at the elbow, the sleeves allowed pale lace to peek through. Voluminous layers of fabric blossomed from the narrow waist of Lily's dress and just brushed against the floor. From underneath, two pale slippers appeared as the crowning touch. In addition, Lily had brushed on a little makeup to enhance her natural features and had swept up her curls on top of her head.

As James openly gawked at Lily, a pretty blush tinted her cheeks, making her look all the more fetching. By the time she had gotten to the bottom of the staircase, James had gotten his composure back.

"You look beautiful," he said sincerely, and gallantly offered her his arm.

Lily smiled up at him and said, "You don't look so bad, yourself." It was true. James had put on a dark blue doublet, with golden buttons and thread. A collared white dress shirt showed underneath. His long legs were covered by the traditional Shakespearean trousers and buckled shoes were on his feet. To complete the look, a long sweeping cloak hung from his shoulders.

As the couples each complimented their partners, they soon walked out of the Common Room. In a single file line, all swept elegantly into the Great Hall.

**scene change**

**James' PoV**

_Wow. _

I looked around at the Great Hall. I saw tiny lanterns everywhere, which were filled (I saw, as I closely examined one) with shimmering fairies. The dimly lighted hall had four long tables, as usual, but they were now decorated with beautiful place settings and ornate silverware. Soft music was playing in the background, and the whole atmosphere was of warmth.

This magnificent decorating, the result of the house-elves' hard work, however, was not what took my breath away. That honor is reserved for the most unattainable Miss Lily Evans. In all honesty, I never knew anyone could look that…_beautiful_, I suppose is the only word that can even come close. I know I must have looked like a fool in the common room, standing there with my mouth hanging open. But I just had never seen anything look so –

"James? Do you want to sit down?" the object of my constant thoughts spoke. Snapping out of my daze, I realized that we were the only ones still standing in the doorway.

"Yeah, sure, of course," I said hastily, guiding my date (I still couldn't even wrap my head around the fact that she had agreed to come with me) to the table.

Lily laughed a little as she sat in the chair I held out for her. Taking a seat to her right, I looked up to see Professor Dumbledore standing, ready to make a short speech.

Turning his penetrating blue eyes upon us, Dumbledore spoke, "I hope you will all enjoy this evening and make lasting memories that you may look back fondly upon in harsh times. For as we hear of dark activities and see yet darker days ahead, each of you will need all the love and friendships you have formed here in Hogwarts. Use these as your strengths and you will see once more the light. Thank you, and enjoy your evening."

Dumbledore bowed his head slightly and stepped down from his small podium. Students looked uneasily at one another; no one had ever heard the usually cheerful Dumbledore speak so solemnly. Looking down, I saw that he was gripping the hand that had slipped into his during the speech. I hadn't even realized until that moment that Lily was holding his hand.

"What do you reckon Dumbledore's got into his head?" Sirius asked in amazement.

"I don't know, Padfoot, but I'm sure he's got a reason for it," responded Remus, expressing once more his never-receding faith in the man who had allowed him to attend Hogwarts.

"My dad says Dark wizards are stirring about, causing trouble," I said, thinking of all the things my father, the Head Auror in the Ministry, had told me.

"Well, let's just do what Dumbledore said and have a good evening," Lyssa said firmly.

"Cheers, Lyssa," I said, grinning and clinking my glass to hers.

"Let's make some memories!" Lily said, smiling softly.

I, for one, knew that this was one evening I wasn't bound to forget any time soon, and as it turned out, it was the night that changed my life.

**end chapter**

**A/N: **Sorry for the wait! Please review!

tenniStar514


	8. Chapter 8: In the Middle of the Night

~Memories~

  
Chapter 8: In the Middle of the Night

DISCLAIMER: I don't own J.K. Rowling's characters.

A/N: This is the chapter I have been waiting to write since I started!!! Here we go...

*****

            The next day dawned fresh and clear. Lily woke up groggily and lay in bed, the events of last night flooding back into her mind. And she remembered: the kiss. Lily groaned inwardly; she didn't know how she was ever going to face him that day. 

            Lily reluctantly dragged herself out of bed and shook Lyssa and Brooke awake. After they had all changed and freshened up, they trooped down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

            The girls had breakfast with the Marauders. Breakfast was a rather uncomfortable affair for Lily and James, but the others were perfectly content. Peter was stuffing his face with food; Sirius and Lyssa were flirting endlessly; Remus and Brooke happily chatted; Lily and James were left to converse awkwardly, not looking at each other. It had been the most awkward meal in Lily's entire life (including the Christmas dinner she had eaten with her stern great uncle who told her and Petunia repeatedly to sit up straight and "act like the young ladies you are").

            Much to Lily's dismay, the others had planned to spend the entire day together; she had hoped for some time alone so she could sort out her thoughts and emotions. Now, Lily would have to see and be around James all day. 

            That whole afternoon, Lily attempted to make some strained conversation between herself and James-attempts that fell sadly flat; James was very distant, much like the time before the dance. She tried asking James if anything was wrong, but he just brushed it off and pasted a false smile on his face-a mask that Lily could totally see through but felt too awkward pressing the matter about. 

            Later, the boys decided to go off somewhere, and the girls went down to the lakeside to discuss the previous night-something Lily _definitely _didn't want to spill the details over.

            Lyssa told the other two her tale with a dreamy look on her face: After they had gotten something to eat and drink, Sirius had produced a long-stemmed rose from behind his back and presented it to his girlfriend, begging her dramatically to dance with him (which she did more than obligingly). Then, they had gone outside (after a few hours of dancing and endless flirting) and slow-danced under the light of the bright stars. He had kissed her good night-a far cry from a peck on the cheek (according to Lyssa, he was a very good kisser), and they had gone to their dormitories.

            Next, it was Brooke's turn to unravel the events of her evening and gush over how sweet and romantic Remus was. They had apparently gone outside after a while. Then, Remus had brought her to a secluded area near the edge of the woods, and had shown her a place he had prepared for them. There was a fountain of marble streaming crystal-clear water, a set table and two chairs nearby. The area was surrounded by streams of golden light forming a dome-like shape, with an opening to enter and exit through. Brooke said that last night had been the most magical night of her life. 

            When it was Lily's turn to spill the beans, she became extremely tight-lipped and wouldn't say anything, despite the others' coaxing and persuading. Lily was confused and needed to sort things out a little. Besides, she wanted that kiss to be something private and special. 

            Later that night, after everyone had turned in to go to sleep, Lily kept tossing turning in her bed. She couldn't sleep and decided to go for a walk to think a little. She wandered aimlessly around the castle for a while, her mind whirling with thoughts. After a while, she found herself at the stairs leading to the Astronomy Tower. She climbed up the winding staircase and opened the door.

*****

            James had been feeling awkward around Lily all day. He hadn't _meant _to kiss her last night. It had just _happened_, like a spur-of-the-moment thing. And now, his emotions and thoughts were al muddled together.

            James liked coming to the Astronomy Tower at night, by himself. He enjoyed the solitary peace it gave him and the feeling of serenity enveloping him. There, he could just allow his mind to wander free. Tonight, he needed that badly, so he had come up and sat on the window ledge, gazing at the sky dotted with stars. 

            Suddenly, the door creaked open. Quickly, James threw his Invisibility Cloak over himself. 

*****

            Lily crossed the room and sat on the window ledge. She drew her knees up and set her chin on them, thinking, trying to settle her whirlwind of emotions. 

            Suddenly, a deep voice came from behind her and asked, "What are you doing here?" 

            Lily gasped in surprise and jumped down from the ledge. From out of thin air, James appeared, holding his Cloak.

            "I-I'm not really sure. I guess just to clear my mind a little," Lily replied hesitantly. Then, her curiosity got the better of her and she asked, "Why are _you_ here?"

            "Same reason. I come up here sometimes, just to sort out my thoughts and stuff," said James. Then, he took a deep breath and decided to bring up the subject that they were dancing around. 

            "Look, I, uh, I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean for it to happen. It just sort of did. I just-I don't know. It's confusing. But...I have to say something. I think ever since I met you, that day on the train, I've liked you-a lot. But now, it's more than that. Lily, I think-I think I'm in love with you," James ended quietly, staring out the window. 

            Lily was in shock. And then, she was filled to the brim with happiness. She turned James' face towards her, and said softly, "You love me? Then kiss me."    

            She slid her arms around his neck as his encircled her waist. Their faces drew closer and closer. Lily instinctively closed her eyes and tilted her chin. Her lips met his in the softest and gentlest of kisses, leaving her dizzy for more. The kiss deepened and grew intensely, until it was raw passion. Finally, reluctantly, Lily drew back and saw passion burning in the depths of James' dark eyes. 

            "Lily, will you be my girlfriend?" James asked.

            "Of course, James," Lily said softly back. Then, James captured her lips once more in a deep and passionate kiss...and at the same time, her heart.

*****

            Later, they decided to go back to the common room. They walked down the dark corridors with James' hand loosely circling her waist, conversing quietly, but happily.           

            Then, out of the shadows, Lucius Malfoy stepped out. In the faint light, Lily could see that his face was twisted in a menacing sneer. 

            "Time to shut your mouth for good," he said to Lily, with a malevolent expression on his face. And then, Lily remembered.

*FLASHBACK*

            Lily was walking to class distractedly one day last week, when she had heard some deep voices conversing in a corridor. She had stopped suddenly and listened closely. From what she could gather, Lucius Malfoy was working on a secret mission inside Hogwarts-for Voldemort! 

            Her concentration was so immense that she didn't notice she was losing her grip on the wall that separated her and Malfoy. She fell with a crash on the hard floor and heard the voices abruptly halt in the middle of their conversation. Malfoy looked up and saw a large quantity of red, curly hair fly around the corner. And then he knew who it was: Lily Evans. 

            He immediately tried to follow her, but Lily had cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself, making her blend into the wall she was standing flat against. As soon as Malfoy had not seen her after rounding the corner, he said softly, "I will silence that interfering Mudblood once and for all." The frozen quality in his voice made Lily's blood run cold and sent chills up her spine. 

            As soon as he had left for the Slytherin common room, Lily dashed away to her dormitory, and fell asleep. The next morning, she had forgotten all about her midnight adventure...but Malfoy had not.

*END FLASHBACK*

            Lily tried to scream for help, but Malfoy quickly cast a Silencing Spell on her. James then advanced and cast a Stunning Spell, the impact of which rebounded on him from a quick Shield Spell. James sailed backwards and crumpled on the hard floor, the wind knocked out of him by the blow. Malfoy sneered in satisfaction. Then he turned back on Lily, who in her fright had backed up against the wall, emerald eyes wide with fear. 

*****

           James hit the floor hard, and felt air leave his lungs with a _whoosh_. His head began to spin and he started to see stars. Through his hazy vision, he could see Lily backed up against the wall, frozen in fear, with Malfoy advancing upon her with every step. As if in slow motion, James watched helplessly as Malfoy raised his wand and pointed it at Lily. 

            Summoning all his remaining strength, he raised himself up painfully and threw himself in front of Lily, as a spell made contact with his body. 

*****

            Lily watched, as if in slow motion, as James hit the ground again. Anger simmered in her blood and burst out in the form of wandless magic. Malfoy flew up in the air and hit the floor, knocked unconscious immediately. Just in case, Lily Stunned him. Then, she knelt in front of James and found that he was unconscious, but alive. She levitated the two bodies and headed straight for Professor Dumbledore's office.

            When she got to the gargoyle, she said the first password that came to mind ("Lemon Drops") and the gargoyles jumped aside. She quickly stepped onto the circling staircase, directing the bodies with her wand. When she knocked, the oak door swung open of its own accord. 

            Professor Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, as if awaiting Lily's arrival. His fingertips were placed together, and he assessed the situation over his half-moon spectacles. 

            "Would you care to explain the situation, Miss Evans?" he asked gently, after removing the Silencing Spell. Lily began pouring out the situation, knowing that she could trust the headmaster. 

            Professor Dumbledore registered all the information then stepped around his desk. He conjured two beds with his wand, set the two boys on them and began to examine them. First, he took a look at Lucius. At last, he pronounced that there had been no damage done, except for a few bruises and other things Madam Blizter could heal.     

            He informed Lily that he would send Lucius down later that night to the Hospital Wing. He would serve a severe punishment for threatening a student, harming another, and would also be questioned of a link to Voldemort's service. The Headmaster also reassured Lily that she would not be receiving detention for being out late, or any punishment for knocking out a fellow student, as it was in self-defense. 

            Then, the Headmaster took a look at James. After inspection, he announced that he had no damage done physically, besides a few bruises, but he wasn't sure if anything else was affected.

            "Headmaster, may I?" asked Lily. At his nod, she concentrated intensely on using her energy to heal James' bruised body. Then, Professor Dumbledore took out his wand and muttered, _Ennervate_.

            To Lily's joy, James' eyes fluttered and slowly opened. They met Lily's bright eyes and were filled with puzzlement and confusion. 

            "Who are you?"

*****

A/N: HUGE cliffie! Sorry, couldn't resist. This is one of my favorite chapters! Hope you enjoyed it! Remember, REVIEW! The more I get, the more inspired I am to write faster. Thanks!


	9. Chapter 9: Musings of a Lovestruck Idiot

Memories

Chapter 9: Musings of a Love-struck Idiot

DISCLAIMER: I do not own J.K. Rowling's work.

A/N: I know, it's been a really long time, and I'm really sorry! Anyway, I was thinking of going back and revising all my previous chapters, because frankly I think they suck. I was wondering if that erases the reviews. Can someone (if you remember this story at all) tell me in a review whether or not that happens? Thanks! By the way, expect higher quality from this story from now on. Please review!

** start chapter **

The common room in Gryffindor tower slowly emptied as the night wore on. I stared blankly into the fireplace as the flames danced merrily and cast long shadows on the walls. I had adopted the habit of staying up late at night, well after all others had gone to bed. I didn't think my friends had noticed, but they had and were concerned. However, they left me alone because they knew that I had issues to sort through.

For the last few weeks, my mind had been whirling with confusing thoughts and emotions. Since the day of "the incident", as I had come to call it, I felt pressured from all sides – especially from within. I felt as if I were inhabiting a stranger's body. The memories my friends and family supplied me with did nothing to make me feel like I knew myself. These stimulants had not broken the powerful Memory Charm as Madam Pomfrey had hoped. I was simply left with an empty feeling inside, and the pressure of having to live up to the reputation that – ironically enough – I had created for myself.

However, these thoughts were not all I was occupied with. Conflicting emotions had also been swirling around inside me. Sirius had jokingly expressed his concerns that I had not shown any apparent interest in any one girl. My friends acted very peculiarly on this subject, and it was very strange to me. Perhaps it was simply my imagination, but it seemed as if they were a bit _too _eager to fix me up with someone. When questioned, however, Remus had just shrugged a bit uncomfortably, and passed it off as wanting me to be happy. Knowing them for such a short time had not forced me to believe Remus for one minute.

Although I had only gotten to know my friends again for three weeks, I had come to know them well: Sirius (Padfoot, as we had nicknamed him) the merry mischief-maker; Remus (dubbed Moony) the gentle werewolf, ever the voice of reason; and Peter (called Wormtail) the shy and pitiable one. My friends (or the Marauders, as we called ourselves) had been extremely supportive throughout my entire ordeal, and I was grateful for such loyal friends. It seemed as if I had known them for years (which, in fact, I had). It was, in this way, that I detected something odd about my friends' behavior on the matter of my love life. However, I didn't spend too much time contemplating my peculiar friends. No, I was too busy battling with more pressing matters – such as a certain redhead called Lily Evans.

My friendship with the lovely Ms. Evans was newly founded, I had learned. I was reluctant to ruin this with my feelings toward her. In truth, I was so strongly attracted to her in a way that I could not explain – and would not allow myself to name.

A sudden noise at the staircase jerked me out of my deep thoughts. Sirius was standing at the base of the stairs, looking rather uncertain at interrupting me.

I smiled tiredly. Sirius took that as an invitation to step closer.

"You alright, mate?" he asked. At my affirmative nod, he pulled me up out of my seat and gently steered me toward the staircase. "You should go catch some sleep."

Nodding wearily in response, I pulled a wan smile at Sirius and headed off to bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I feel into a deep slumber.

** scene change **

As usual, the Gryffindor boys got to breakfast before the girls. . Remus, Sirius and I were sitting side-by-side along the table. Peter had Vanished all his hair while attempting to Stun me in a mock duel last night, so he was still in the Hospital Wing. The girl who had been filling the thoughts in my head sat down across from me, gracing me with one of her infamously radiant smiles. I felt my cheeks grow warm, and nearly drooled into my oatmeal. Charming, eh? Fortunately for me, Lyssa Wynfield walked in, and Lily was momentarily distracted from me by greeting her best friend Brooke Wiskero also entered the Great Hall and sat down by Remus.

Remus John Lupin. My gentlest, most caring friend. I swear, as I often have done, that Remus hasn't got a mean bone in his body. However, he has other ways of intimidation and methods to get you to do what he wants. Such as, the most famous eyebrow-lifting method. The disappointed look on his face when he wants you to apologize for something is always a good one, too. Or, if all else fails, he simply _looks _at you; an intense gaze that makes you feel as if he is looking into your very heart and compels you to do whatever he wants to get away from that penetrating stare. Remus is such a complex person, that he simply draws you in, and makes you want to know him better. There are few who know the depth of his personality, though. He is compassionate through and through, and because he feels so out of control during the full moon, he tightens his leash on his emotions on every other day, especially anger. He is often afraid to express his feelings, and is very tentative with trust. Although many girls sigh over Remus' shaggy brown hair and deep amber eyes, Remus doesn't date often. I think that Brooke can finally bring him out of that shell.

Speaking of which, I glanced sidelong at Remus and noticed that he had looped his arm around Brooke's waist. Sirius caught me looking at them and silently pretended to throw up behind their backs. As I grinned, I contemplated my rash, but loyal, best friend.

Sirius Orion Black. The most loyal friend a bloke could have. Sirius is a person who sticks to his morals, standing up for them no matter what. It is reasonable to conclude through this that he is the same with friends – and it is true. Sirius may be rash at times, but he is ever loyal. He may not seem it, but he is very sensitive on the inside. Of course, most people think of Sirius quite differently. And that is only natural, considering that Sirius is very different around people other than those he trusts infinitely. Sirius is always in the spotlight at school. Girls trip over themselves, gazing starry-eyed at his roguish looks, while boys look on with envy at his spectacular Quidditch skills. Sirius is usually in the limelight, and he loves every minute of it. He is the type of person to enjoy being the center of attention, and does it naturally. After all, his entire personality exudes genuine enthusiasm, the kind of brightness that attracts people around him. That, and the fact that he is somewhat of a ladies' man. Sirius has a new girlfriend every week, leaving a trail of broken hearts behind. However, I think Lyssa might be the one to keep Sirius to herself for more than two weeks. I know from Remus that Sirius had been eyeing her for three months until he actually asked her out, which is very unusual behavior for Sirius.

A soft laugh jerked me out of my musings. I started in surprise, and looked up to meet the brilliantly green eyes of Lily Evans.

"What were you thinking about so deeply, James?" The goddess of beauty had asked me a question. Too bad I was too mesmerized by her eyes to answer properly.

As if hypnotized by a Veela, I answered in an absent, somewhat dazed voice, "You have really beautiful eyes, did you know that?" As soon as it slipped out of my mouth, I realized what I had said. Did you know that the restricting uniforms of Hogwarts get really hot around the collar? Or perhaps that was simply due to the fact that I was slowly turning the fetching scarlet of a nicely ripe tomato. I "accidentally" dropped my fork and dived under the table to get it. When I emerged, my face was still the color of the setting sun, and I cursed to myself.

Anyway, after an awkward five minutes, Lily took another stab at conversation. I didn't know why, but I had the funny feeling that she felt…uncomfortable…around me. As if she felt guilty. I had no idea why, but my gut feeling was telling me I was right. And if Sirius was anything to go by, my "feminine intuition" was usually correct.

Anyway, we conversed amiably for a while, and I managed not to say anything too stupid. I was pretty sure that she knew what I felt for her, though. She would have needed to be blind, deaf, and mute all at once not to. And since I was pretty sure she had a good grip on her senses, I guessed it was a pretty lost cause for me to pretend.

I was having such a good time talking to Lily that I hadn't noticed the bell ringing, until Sirius nudged me in the side and told me it was time to go. I mentally cursed the bell from interrupting our conversation.

As we left for our first class, Lily shot a smile at me and said, "Let's talk later, James, okay?" I nodded dumbly. I would never have guessed, but I suppose there is a way to make Potions sound somewhat interesting.

**scene change **

"Later" turned out to be quite sooner than I had expected. During our fourth class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lily came running in late because she had been helping a student to the Hospital Wing. She darted into the classroom right as the bell rang, and found that most of the seats were taken already. I, as usual, had an empty seat on my right, so I patted it with what I hoped was a charming smile, and gestured her to sit next to me. Lily smiled and plopped down in the seat next to me. I don't know why, but a greasy git, who I learned was called Severus Snape, scowled at me.

After Ms. Genger took roll call, she said, "Good afternoon, class. I do hope you know the person sitting next to you, because that person is about to become your partner for the next project." I decided that I was either born under a lucky star, or that Fate was really smiling down on me today. I grinned at Lily, and was gratified to see that she smiled back. The professor continued, "The duration of this project will be for the next seven weeks. You will be researching different methods of defensive combat. I am expecting fourteen rolls of parchment on the subject you have chosen by the end of the project. If you manage your time wisely you should only have to complete two rolls of parchment each week. Come up to my desk by the end of the hour to inform me of your chosen topic. You will have the remainder of the hour to think about your topic or start working. That will be all." With that, the professor went and sat down behind her desk.

Instantly, a flurry of activity broke out, with excited murmurs and discussion filling the Defense classroom. I turned to Lily, so we could discuss our topic.

"What do you think we should research on, Lily?" I asked. I had a topic that I really wanted to research, but I forced myself to be a gentleman and ask her first.

"Well, James, I don't really have any particular idea in mind, so why don't you choose? It seems as if you'll burst if you don't tell me your idea anyway," Lily said teasingly.

A flush crept up my neck, but I put forth my suggestion anyway, "Why don't we research defensive shields? I think they're really interesting, and I think a lot of it has to do with charmwork, so you'll enjoy that."

Lily's face lit up at the mention of her favorite subject and agreed enthusiastically. We went up to Ms. Genger's desk and informed her that we would be researching defensive shields.

"So, James, let's meet up at the library at seven o'clock tonight. Is that alright with you?" Lily asked me as we got back to our desks. If she had asked me to dive off the Astronomy Tower at midnight, I would have. I simply couldn't deny her anything within my power when I looked into her entrancing eyes. Pathetic, I know.

"Yeah, sure, Lily. See you then," I managed to say back. The bell rang, and we packed up to leave. She slung her bag over her shoulder and smiled dazzlingly at me before she left. I stood at my desk for about a minute after she left, grinning like an idiot. Sirius and Remus got their stuff and came over.

"Come on, Jim, m'boy. We have lunch to get to! Let's get moving!" Sirius broke me out of my Lily-induced stupor. I shook myself mentally and gathered all my things in my bag. When we all exited the classroom, I was still grinning madly.

Behind my back, Sirius whispered to Remus, "Now there is one love-struck idiot." Remus nodded fervently in response.

** end chapter **

A/N: How was that, everyone? Sorry for such a long wait. It'll be a while for the next chapter, because I'm going to go back and revise all the other chapters. So, anyway, please review! Thank you!

tenniStar514


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